I got the invitation and decided to give it a try. (yes, $100 make sense in current economy)
Jaguar dealership looked completely dead, no customers no sales persons. So I found one sales guy who was surprised a bit seeing a person who would like to taste XJ.
The car looked not bad from interior point view, much better than XF. It is also roomier inside. Interior quality materials are top notch and overall interior impression is really good. First thing which was killing for me, it is computer screen generated dashboard. All controls and dials are just computer generated images. It is certainly cool, I do not know why other makers do not do that, becasue it gives so much flexibility and just updating software can change your dashboard look completely.
Access to all controls is intuitive I could adjust seats, mirrors without asking how. XJ is extremely quiet, I would admit that E class noisier.
Another surprising thing was I could drive the car comfortably without "getting use" time as you usually have when switch cars. Suspenssion feels is a bit different than E class has, from one side it looks like stiffer than E class but something wrong, I would say you are more detached from road, but it isn't Lexus feel. Back visibility is a bit obstructed, but side visibility is good, if I always struggle with E class huge blind spots, XJ has very little them and also blind spot indication is standard. Base XJ 385hp has feel a bit lacking in power, passing power isn't sufficient on highway speed, however E350 isn't better either. But overall transmission of XJ feel is good, very smooth. Steering wheel diameter is smaller, so it makes the car sportier than E class. One inconvience I imeddiatly got, here is no brake hold feature. Another thing is navigation display position isn't good and screen looks almost blind at direct California sun light. Here is no iDrive like feature, so you need to use touch screen. It is responsive enough but I prefer dial knob of iDrive like control.
So generally I was pleasant with ride quality, performance, and handling.
I got some more impression about the car, trunk looks big and it has power closing feature, however no power door closing feature as S class has, so certainly it isn't S class. Back seats space is really huge, leather quality is amazing. XJ has two sunroofs, and glass and shield panels are both power operated. 19" wheels are coming as standard, however here are no low profile tires, so no feel like it has 19" wheels.
So my overall impression after driving was:
I still like E class more, I assume switching to E550 could give me leather and more power base E class is lacking. Huge back seats space for a car mostly used for cummute is useles, unless you want to spend some time there with a lover.
So I perhaps will still consider E550 as next car considering equal pay.

 

i know most might not agree but i don't mind the new xj's look at all. i always like jag's interior and it's probably one of the best and classiest especially back in the old days. i don't get any invitation from them. maybe time to request some sort of info from them and see how it goes .

 

I'd go if I was invited....
I was invited to drive some BMW's, but didn't go, even though
I should have gone in my cls and said 'if you can match this power for the price'
then maybe we can tango....

 

All you have to do to eliminate this possibility when making a decision to purchase is to have a look in the dealers shop and see why all those vehicles are in there. Many many issues, some minor but lots major. Remember Jaguar is owned by a company who has never before manufactured a luxury car. The entire vehicle is a big unreliable mess.

 

I have received offers from Saturn, Ford and Toyota to test drive a car and get a gift card. Most recently, this month for Toyota.
Did get an offer from a manufacturer to compare its cars to some others and get a gift card. Contacted because I own an MB E class.

 

Jaguar has been long unreliable before anyone bought them. They are always on the bottom in terms of reliability. I love their designs though and they are quite powerful but I will not touch one until they figure out a way to make them reliable.

Is this unreliability a British thing? I'd also love to get a Range Rover but again I will not because of reliability concerns. DO the British make any reliable cars?